


Beyond Just Us

by EmternalSummers



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: All The Ships, College AU, I don't write happiness, M/M, No one is Happy Ever, Partying, Pining, Rejection, Slow Burn, Tags subject to change and additions, Weird siblings combos, some non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21760159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmternalSummers/pseuds/EmternalSummers
Summary: Zhu Zhengting: Performance major at college whose favorite activities include drinking, partying, and dancing on Thursday nights. He's learned to shrug off the rumors about him, using this fun way of life to try and mask the pain from his past.Bi Wenjun: A stern chemistry major who finds books better companions than anything that breathes and only goes somewhere when his twin drags him along.This two are wildly mismatched, but that doesn't stop Zhengting from trying to figure out the cold man that is Wenjun, but opening up a new friend makes him more vulnerable than he ever has been before.
Relationships: Bi Wenjun/Zhu Zhengting | Jung Jung, Fan Chengcheng/Huang Minghao | Justin, Huang Xinchun/Li Quanzhe, Lin Yanjun/You Zhangjing
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning: Some non-con touching, nothing explicit, and drinking

Feeling good was somewhat of Zhengting’s specialty. He liked to be happy, he liked to be around people, and above all, he liked to party. When there was a party, everything just seemed to flow. The bodies, the emotions, and most importantly, the alcohol. With those mythical combinations, Zhengting had become a well known figure around the party scene at his university. From occasionally hosting his own to being an outstanding figure in any of the ones he visited, his university life certainly was lively. It would be hard pressed to not find him taking in the center of attention with a red Solo cup in his hand and hips grinding down on the nearest person on any given party night.

And, no matter how many Thirsty Thursdays went by with him waking up on Friday mornings in sometimes strange locations, Zhengting never thought of his habits as anything bad. By his junior year, his grades were scraping by just enough for him to graduate on time, so he didn’t see any reason to change them. His roommate, one the other hand, was an education major named You Zhangjing, who did not share the same sentiments. Much rather keeping to himself, Zhangjing had promised time and time again that each time he dragged a half-coherent Zhengting home, it would be the last time. But, beyond those Thursday mishaps, the two got together fairly well and had roomed together for the past three years.

So that’s why when he was approached by someone after class and told about a party on frat row, Zhengting thought nothing of it. Sure, it was odd to be invited to a party in university, especially one that was being thrown by a fraternity, but who was Zhengting to turn it down? The frats at their university weren’t the most sanctioned about their parties, causing Zhengting to oftentimes steer clear from them. But going once in a while couldn’t hurt.

Once he got home from classes and told Zhangjing, the other was immediately worried.

“Zhengting, something about this doesn’t sound right,” the shorter muttered, watching Zhengting paw through his collection of shirts in his room. The taller flickered between his room and bathroom as he got ready, switching between various outfits and trying to perfect his hair and makeup.

Zhengting merely rolled his eyes, holding up two shirts over himself. They both looked good, but he still couldn’t decide which one was better. It’s hard when you look good in everything after all. “Oh, c’mon Zhangjing! I’m not that dumb. I know it’s a frat party, but if I can get in for free, who’s complaining? Now, should I go with a sweater or button down…”

“Me, I’m complaining! I don’t want to have to drive all the way over there at three am to pick you up! Again!” Zhangjing let out an irritated huff as he watched Zhengting blatantly ignore his protest, instead choosing to head off to the bathroom to make sure his hair and makeup were up to snuff.

He listened to Zhangjing grumble a bit more, but the protests had gone in one ear and out another. In fact, he could hardly hear the half-hearted protests behind the closed bathroom door as he added the final details to his appearance. Moving back into his bedroom, Zhengting stood in front of the full length mirror switching between a soft looking purple sweater or black button up. He decided to go with the black shirt, matching it with a pair of ripped jeans. Once he got a drink or two in him, he knew that his whole look wouldn’t matter, but he refused to leave looking less than perfect. Coming home was just another story.

“Zhengting, something is going to happen one of these days!” Zhangjing ended his tirade with another huff, knowing his words really have no impact on the other. “Really, just be careful, okay?”

Zhengting paused in the mirror for a moment. For as much as Zhangjing’s nagging had gotten on his nerves, he knew his roommate really cared for him and Zhengting be damned if he didn’t feel the same way. Zhangjing had been one of the few constants in his life the past few years and Zhengting knew without him, he’d probably be doing far worse. Walking over, he softly kissed Zhangjing’s head, the other sputtering and jumping back in shock.

“Don’t worry about it, Xiyou~! I promise I’ll try my best to keep safe!” With that, Zhengting pulled on his jacket and blew the other one more kiss before laughing as Zhangjing had finally begun to function enough to start shouting back at Zhengting’s retreating form, threatening to beat him up playfully.

With a phone in one pocket and wallet in another, Zhengting made his way out of their apartment building and onto the chilly autumn street. Pulling out his wallet, he took out the piece of paper that had the address of the party on it. He was familiar with the street, also known as frat tow by the student body, but usually steered clear of the parties there.

Shrugging, he headed off, offering several greetings to other groups that he walked past on the way there. Girls in impractical clothing for the weather shouted to each other on either side of the road, houses were alight with fairy lights and the smell of booze seemed to seep into the air. This is the kind of environment Zhengting knew how to thrive in. This was where he peaked.

It didn’t take long for him to find the house in question, though it looked less like a house and more like a small mansion. The several story building was decorated with a patio that seemed to be made from stone and held pillars that rose upwards towards the roof. Several greek letters were plastered on the front, none of which Zhengting knew.

He walked nervously to the front door where music was already thrumming around at a low beat and colorful lights flickered out the window. Something about the whole thing suddenly became off putting and Zhengting remembered Zhangjing’s skeptical tone. Maybe he was just letting that get to him. It was a party after all and Zhengting had nothing to worry about, he’s done this a million times before. Shaking his head a few times, he pushed open the surprisingly heavy door and slipping inside the frat house.

The inside was exactly how he expected it to be. There was a large group of university students dancing in the middle of what seemed to be a living room, the actual living part of it pushed off to one side. Some sat on the couches near a small coffee table that had been moved near the wall, but there were even more in the empty space that had been created, red solo cups in their hands and music pounding in the background. Zhengting grinned, all former wariness leaving him.

It didn’t take long for someone to approach him once he got inside. He was probably one of the few sober people there, as someone had to be in charge of who was and wasn’t allowed in the party. He walked up to Zhengting and gave him a glance up and down. “You got an invite?”

Zhengting paused for a moment, already reaching into his wallet to bring out the usually necessary cash. “Huh?”

Irritated, the guy motioned to the piece of paper that had been shoved into his wallet. “Yeah, you got an invite. Don’t need to pay.”

He waved Zhengting off before disappearing back into the crowd and to wherever he was watching the entrance from prior. Now he felt even more off. No matter who was hosting the party or how many he had gone to, Zhengting had never gotten into one for free, nevermind a frat party for free. Something was certainly off here.

He wasn’t allowed to dwell on it for much longer as an arm slung itself around his shoulders, lips grazing the shell of his ear with words just audible over the sound of music. “Yo, glad you could make it!”

Zhengting jumped back slightly to look at who had spoken to him. It was the same kid who had given him the invite in the first place. Zhengting didn’t even know his name, but was familiar with the cocky expression he wore. He held a drink in each hand and took a small drink out of one before offering it to Zhengting. “Want it?”

Zhengting politely declined it, pushing it to the side and trying to edge further away from the arm around his shoulder. “I’m fine, I can get my own!”

But the guy didn’t seem to give up that easily. He persistently followed Zhengting into the remarkably quieter kitchen, placing both the drinks down on the counter. “Aw, c’mon what’s the problem? Lighten up!” The frat member grinned as he crossed his arms against his chest, keeping a watch on Zhengting. “You’ve been looking pretty stressed out lately, that’s why I thought you needed to come here to kick back and relax a bit!”

Zhengting raised one eyebrow, taking a sip of the drink he had poured himself. The familiar burn of alcohol travelled down his throat, the fake sugar from whatever punch mixture they added doing little to dull the concoction of the drink. “You’ve been watching me? Do I even know you?”

For a moment, the other had looked struck and hurt, his expression flickering from a smile to an over the top frown. Zhengting continued to sip from his drink as the other student continued. “Oh, how could you?! We were partners back in psych freshman year! In that one group project together in econ? We’re in that one seminar together now?”

Zhengting just stared back blankly, placing the cup down near him on the counter. “I-I’m sorry, but you’re not really ringing any bells…”

For a moment, the look turned from sadness to that of slight frustration, before easing back into the familiar smile. “Well, let’s not be strangers anymore, you and I! Cheers to a new meeting of future friendship, how about it?” He held up his cup to Zhengting, continuing to look at him with a grin. Still slightly apprehensive, Zhengting lifted his own cup up to lightly tap it against the others before they both took a drink.

That is, the first drink of many. After their own private cheers, the frat member had said he needed to leave for a bit, but promised to check back in on Zhengting later. Zhengting, who could really care less about what he said, slid back into the main room with his cup emptied and refilled. The familiar rush of the first drink had gone through him and he was ready to lose himself in the crowd. He wasn’t tipsy by any means, but the drink was just enough to get him started.

As usual, he found a group of other students that were dancing to the music, though it was more or less just bodies swaying back and forth to the beat. Downing his new drink in one go, Zhengting moved into the throng of students, laughing as he mingled among them and moved to the beat. His coat had been left in the kitchen earlier and the top few buttons of his top had come undone with the heat of the house, but it all acted as a catalyst for Zhengting to move even more. His hips swayed as he began to pick up on the beat of the new song, which was something low and sultry.

He felt a pair of hands grab his hips and grind up into him, causing Zhengting to let out a small gasp. Grinding was nothing new to him, but the intense feeling behind it and practical dry humping of his ass was something that didn’t feel right. Breaking away from the hands, Zhengting stumbled into a few other students, muttering an apology, and nervously peeked back over his shoulder. Whoever was behind him had disappeared back into the crowd.

Quickly, Zhengting had moved back into the kitchen, which seemed to be emptier than before. His coat was still hanging over one of the chairs and he moved towards it quickly, sliding the sleeves over his arms and making sure he had his phone and wallet before making headway towards the front door.

Just as luck would have it, Zhengting’s new “friend” had just so happened to be on his way back into the kitchen and nearly walked right into Zhengting. His hands had gone out to catch Zhengting’s shoulders, preventing the brunette from going right into him. “Woah, dude, what’s the rush?”

Zhengting, who now was starting to feel the effects of his drinks, looked up and merely shook his head. “S-sorry, my roommate called me. He needs me to go home…” He managed to get out. His gaze was averted towards the ground as he refused to meet the eyes of the other. Something about this felt wrong in the pit of his stomach and suddenly Zhangjing's warnings seemed to ring back into Zhengting's head.

There was a clicking of a tongue as Zhengting looked up the see his new friend’s expression morph into that of disgust. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked down at Zhengting and shaking his head. “Damn, didn’t think I was going to have to do this the hard way.”

Zhengting took a few paces back, bumping into the table in the middle of the kitchen. “What are you talking about? Look, I just really need to go home and-”

“Shut up.” Zhengting felt his eyes widen as a pair of lips roughly covered his own in a fierce kiss. A strong hand gripped his jaw, preventing him from turning away. He pounded on the chest of the student in front of him, letting out a muffled shout as a tongue forced it’s way into Zhengting’s mouth. With it came something that was small and rounded, forcing its way down his throat. With that, Zhengting decided it was time to go all out and took to batting the frat member in the face, successfully dislodging him from Zhengting.

Taking the moment in which the other was stunned, Zhengting rushed back into the main living area, heart pounding in his ears. He looked around, trying to remember in what direction the door was. There was a shout behind him and Zhengting took that as a cue to continue moving forward instead of staying in place. Stumbling forward slightly, he moved into the dense crowd of people, muttering apologies as he shoved a few out of his way. Everything seemed to become hazy at this point, his own footsteps becoming unsure and weak.

At one point, while looking over his shoulder to confirm the frat member was still going after him, Zhengting had tripped over his own two feet and landed right into someone’s arms.

“Hey, careful,” came a slightly annoyed tone from above him. Zhengting looked up to see a tall student with an annoyed expression on his face help Zhengting back up onto his feet. “If you’re gonna be drunk, don’t do it on me.”

Zhengting couldn’t help but giggle slightly at the comment, his thoughts too fuzzy to full comprehend the comment as a kind of diss. “You don’t get drunk on people, you get drunk with people!” Zhengting chirped, smiling up the tall stranger.

He suddenly felt a pull backwards, arms securing themselves around Zhengting’s chest, firmer than they really should have been. Zhengting widened his eyes slightly as the two shared a short conversation, trying to break free of the grip. He wanted to say something to this new kid, but his mouth felt like it wasn’t working. His tongue felt almost swollen as he opened his mouth to talk, words coming out slurred and incomprehensible. When the other student just looked at him with slight disgust, Zhengting just tried to hope he could see the look of helplessness on his face as the frat student lead him away.

There were harsh words spoken into his ear as Zhengting was lead up the staircase to the upper floor of the house. His feet had begun to fail him, which lead to him being dragged up the stairs by the other student. And, though he was significantly weaker, Zhengting did try his best to wiggle out of his grasp or call someone for help, but it all proved fruitless as he was soon tossed into a room, face down onto a mattress. He tried to turn around to see what was happening, but a hand had pushed his face down into the pillow below him.

Multiple voices were heard on the outskirts of Zhengting’s conscious, his mind too fuzzy to pick out any words. Everything now seemed to be in a cloudy kind of state, words merely floating through his head with nothing firmly cementing them in place. He could still feel well enough, though, and soon felt a sudden chill nip at his skin. His pants had been taken off and a hand was moving it’s way up his leg. With a shout, he tried to strike backwards towards the owner of the hand, but felt his ankle get caught and tossed to the side without much effort. Soon, the rest of his clothes were stripped as well, multiple hands moving their way along the curves of his body, voices soft and appreciative.

“N-no… Stop it… Leave me alone…” He pleaded softly, only to be met with a chorus of laughter. Refusing to give up though, Zhengting tried to use the last remaining bits of strength he had to wiggle away from his captors, blindly striking out as he moved towards the edge of the bed. What he didn’t expect was a lashing burn against his back, making him yelp in pain and stop moving all together.

There were some more voices that spoke close to his ear, but he merely repeated the word no over and over again, screwing his eyes shut as even feeling had become diluted, the hands that were wandering over his body feeling nothing more than an uncomfortable pressure.

Tears leaked down from Zhengting’s face as he felt the hands reach for more intimate areas, Zhangjing’s warning echoing in his head. Why didn’t he listen? For once in his life, the shorter had been very correct and Zhengting had chosen not to listen and instead end up where he was now, only able to see the blurry blue sheets underneath him.

There was some move conversation above his head as well as an uncomfortable pressure building up in Zhengting. He let out a small whine and tried to move forward, only to be met with another painful lash across his back, criss crossing the first one. The tears picked up speed as his back burned with pain, the only sensation coming to him clearly.

What he didn’t expect though, was the pressure to be suddenly taken away from him completely. There were the sounds of voices shouting in the background, but Zhengting couldn’t even begin to make out what they were saying. Instead, a strange drowsiness began to pull at him. Despite the burning pain on his back, he began to close his eyes and let sleep take him over. Somewhere, there seemed to be someone calling out to him, but the sound soon faded away as his conscious did as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Reference to non-con touching, drug use, and assault

Wenjun had hated parties. To be more precise, he hated when his social twin brother, Yanjun, dragged him to parties. He preferred to spend his evenings working on the seemingly endless amount of homework his professors gave him in his room, away from loud and seemingly annoying people. But, on occasion, he was dragged out of his room and brought to whatever party his brother had decided to frequent that night. He was told that it was good for him to “get outside and smell the fresh air”, but Wenjun had to go outside to get to his classes daily. That was usually enough fresh air for him.

More often than not, Wenjun kept his status as a wallflower strong, staying by the edges of the party and sipping on the same drink for the whole night. After about an hour or so, he would normally slip out without his brother and walk home, granted he knew the way. Some nights, Yanjun would drag Wenjun in five different directions in order to prevent him from leaving, citing Wenjun’s outstanding ability to get lost in even the simplest of areas.

And tonight happened to be one of those nights. Wenjun stood against the wall in some giant fraternity house with trap music blasting from speakers in the front. He sipped on a bitter tasting punch Yanjun had brought him before he disappeared into the crowd, not that Wenjun minded. He had been lucky enough to convince his brother to stop introducing Wenjun to people and instead just occasionally popping out of the crowd to check on him. Besides, Wenjun had an easy time seeing over most of his peers, being blessed with above average height. He often used this to find his brother and ditch when he was getting especially irritated with the crowd.

Tonight, Wenjun could already feel, would be one of those nights. When not being asked about being the only person Yanjun would ever bring to a party, he found various people approaching him out of curiosity, almost as if Wenjun's presence was a commodity of sorts. He sent both of these kinds of people away, prefering to remain to himself. Though, according to Yanjun, the kind nature in which he sent them away had apparently granted him some kind of secret admirers. Those didn’t bother him as much as people who wandered up to him, granted they kept their distance.

He had already turned at least two girls away already by the time Yanjun had come over to him, his twin sliding up against the wall beside Wenjun and motioning for Wenjun to lean down in order to speak into his ear over the loud music.

“See, I told you that frat parties are way more fun!” Yanjun shouted with a grin, elbowing Wenjun’s side. “Watching like a hundred people get drunk is better than watching twenty.”

Wenjun merely rolled his eyes. “For a people watcher like you, sure. How much longer are you going to keep me here for?”

“I already told you, you just need to survive one hour then I’ll send you home, promise!” And with that, Yanjun slipped back into the crowd of students, leaving Wenjun alone. So, the younger twin went back to what he was best at: drinking slowly and waiting.

On occasion, he moved from one area to another, giving himself a chance to explore the house they visited. The main floor of this house was quite large with a kitchen, living room, dining room, game room and a bathroom all accessible. A rather large staircase was located across from the main entrance, acting as a dividing from one section of the house from another. The kitchen was on the same side as the living and dining rooms while the game room and bathroom was located to the other side. Though he hadn’t gone up the stairs, after seeing a series of giggling couples making their way up throughout the night, he could only assume that’s where the bedrooms were.

Now, he found himself situated back in the living room, back pressed against the wall by the staircase at he waited for Yanjun. He’s checked his watch several times at this point and found that it was slowly clicking past the hour mark his brother had originally indicated. After convincing himself to wait five more minutes for Yanjun, Wenjun felt something, or someone, bump into him, letting out a small “ouf!” as he did so.

The boy looked up at Wenjun, his whole face flushed red with a worried expression. His hands gripped onto the taller’s arms for a moment to steady himself before Wenjun could even process what had just happened.

“Hey, careful,” Wenjun warned as the boy eventually collected himself enough to stand up on his own, though he seemed rather unsteady. “If you’re gonna be drunk, don’t do it on me.”

The boy’s face morphed from worry to joy as he began to giggle to himself, shaking his head at Wenjun, which seemed to make him stumble a bit more. “You don’t get drunk _on_ people, you get drunk _with_ people!” He said between giggles, a bright expression adorning his face. Wenjun had come across various drunks during his time at parties, but never had he seen one so innocently cute.

The boy was soon tugged away by someone else, Wenjun looking up to make eye contact with one of the few people who matched him in terms of height. “Bu Fan,” he greeted, dipping his head slightly, but keeping one eye on the boy that was held tightly in the other’s arms.

“Wenjun! Good to see you here! Is Yanjun around?” The other asked, a saccharine smile on his features. The action alone sent chills down the younger twin’s spine, but he tried to ignore it.

“Of course. We were on our way to leave soon.”

“Ah, what a shame. If you were around longer, I would have invited you two to hang out with me and some of the other guys.”

Wenjun smiled back, though he couldn’t help but glance at the kid in his arms. “I appreciate the offer, but maybe another time? I’ll see when Yanjun is free.”

There was movement from the boy who seemed to fall forward a bit, Bu Fan adjusted his grip on him. The held boy as he began to slur incomprehensible words, fidgeting his way out the taller’s grasp. Wenjun wrinkled his nose as he watched the drunk student try to say something, though highly unsuccessful. “Oh, sorry about him. He’s gone a bit too far so I was going to take him upstairs to sleep it off. See you later!”

Bu Fan seemed to simply drag the drunk student away, whispering harshly in his ear as he brought him up the steps onto the second floor of the house. Wenjun’s eyes followed them for a moment before an arm being awkwardly slung over his shoulder became apparent.

“See, you can talk with people!” Yanjun said playfully before Wenjun batted his arm away.

“Yes, I can have basic conversations. I’m not that socially inept,” came Wenjun’s retort as his eyes went back up to the staircase. “Hey, did you happen to see who that kid was with him?”

Yanjun settled against the wall, blinking a few times as he thought about it. “It looked like Zhu Zhengting. I see him around from time to time. We’re acquainted, sure, but never really talked before. Why do you wanna know?” The older twin’s lips turned into a sly smirk as he elbowed Wenjun’s side. “Oh, I get! A case of love at first sight I see!”

Wenjun internally gagged, nearly spitting out the remains of his drink in his cup. “Love at first sight? That’s bullshit and you know it.” Yanjun merely rolled his eyes. “No, he seemed, out of it. Not the drunk kind of out of it, though. More dazed I guess?”

His brother shrugged, walking towards the front door. “I mean, he’s probably fine. I can at least assure you this isn’t Zhengting’s first party and Bu Fan probably took him upstairs to rest. Everything’s fine. Now, as promised, I'll take you home.”

Wenjun followed behind Yanjun, but there was some nagging feeling in the back of his head. There was something about that whole situation that didn’t sit right with him. Yanjun didn’t seem to notice his brother slowing his pace down, talking cheerily to empty space until he realized he didn’t get an answer to a question.

“Wenjun?” Yanjun looked back just in time to see the taller quickly walking back towards the frat house. After a moment of hesitation, the older twin rolled his eyes and went at a light jog to catch back up with Wenjun.

One of the few times Wejun was thankful for his long legs was when he was in a rush. Usually, that involved him staying at the library too long and needing to sprint to his next class. This time was different, though. He strode back up the porch of the frat house, opening the doors and ignoring the looks the various party-goers were giving him. He could hear someone shout from the side, probably the bouncer of the party, but chose to ignore it. Instead, he made his way through a throng of people, shoving past them as he began to take the stairs two by two.

The upstairs of the house was far different from the downstairs. Here, there was a long hallway that wrapped around at one end, doors on any given side of it. There seemed to be writing on some of them, denoting the names of the students who lived there. Most of the doors were closed, which didn’t help in figuring out which one Zhengting was brought in to. It was also much quieter up here, with far less flashing lights and the music even seemed to be more muted. With a sigh, Wenjun quickly paced down the hallway, trying to listen for signs of either Bu Fan or Zhengting. Stopping outside one room, there was the sound of multiple people's laughter, followed by a harsh snap of something and a wail. Wenjun winced, taking a step back from the door.

Was what he was doing right? What if he was breaking in on some kind of couple’s kinky play? Dear god, he wanted anything but that. He knew if that was the case, Yanjun would never let him live it down. He was shocked out of his thoughts by another pitiful sound from inside and another snap. He hesitated just a moment more, thinking the wail sounded slightly similar to the slurred voice he heard earlier. Before he knew it, Wenjun was placing his hand on the door knob and pulling his phone out, quickly pressing down on the camera to begin rolling.

“What the fuck are you guys doing!?” Wenjun shouted, effectively startling most of the people in the room. He panned his phone around to get the stunned face of each student before laying eyes on the bed. On it was a disheveled and bleeding Zhengting, panting slightly. Atop him was Bu Fan, whip in hand.

Soon enough, the other guys in the room began to run out, some of them cursing as they stumbled and others pulling up their pants as they vacated. Bu Fan locked eyes with Wenjun, looking oddly calm.

“What, are you upset you didn’t get a go?” Bu Fan sneered, motioning with one hand to the hardly conscious student below him.

Wenjun said nothing as he strode up to the taller student and delivered a swift punch to his face, rage boiling deep inside him. Bu Fan staggered back on the bed, holding his cheek in one hand “You’re disgusting.”

Bu Fan laughed, now standing on the edge of the bed. He shook his head, looking down at Zhengting’s body. “No, I’m just getting what I want.”

“Apparently, jail time is what you want then,” Yanjun’s voice came from the doorway, his arms crossed as he leaned against the frame. “Sorry, but I’m pretty sure drugging someone is illegal, nevermind trying to fuck them unconscious and without consent.”

Bu Fan’s features twisted into pure hatred as Yanjun held his phone up, displaying the number of the university police. Following suit as the rest of his friends did, the fraternity student quickly pulled his clothes on before dashing out the door. There was a noticeable silence after he went, the original thrumming of the house coming to an end.

Quickly, Wenjun went over to where Zhengting lay motionless on the bed. He lifted the older student’s face up, finding it only to be relaxed into a slumber. Moving slowly, he used the blankets on the bed to cover Zhengting’s lower half before examining his back. Several angry red lashmarks cut across the otherwise pale skin, some spots displaying bloody and broken skin. Yanjun walked over, frowning as he looked down.

“Jesus, what the fuck were they planning, a gang bang or soemthing?”

Wenjun shrugged, not quite sure how to answer his question. There was another sound at the door and the twins tensed and swiveled back, only to see a familiar face. They both relaxed, though Yanjun moreso than Wenjun, who now took to finding Zhengting’s scattered clothes in the room.

“Everything downstairs is all set, bro. The house shouldn’t have any more guests in it. I didn’t see any of the usual frat guys here though...” Ziyi’s voice trailed off, his eyes looking over the form on the bed. “What the hell happened here?”

“Bu Fan and some other guys were doing something to Zhengting… I don’t know for sure, what though. Wenjun got here before me.” The two sets of eyes turned towards the tallest in the room, who now held an armful of clothes.

“I have a video, so we can talk about it later. For now, Zhengting needs to get home. Do either of you know where he lives?”

Yanjun shook his head before Ziyi pulled out his phone, quickly sending a text out. “I know his roommate. He’s my tutor, so I can ask him to come here.”

“You need a tutor? What for?” Yanjun asked, playfully nudging Ziyi before the two of them began to talk quietly about the lucky coincidence of Zhengting’s roommate. Wenjun stayed focused on his task at hand, working on slowly redressing Zhengting. The more he saw, the more disgusted Wenjun became of Bu Fan. There were bruises forming on Zhengting’s hip, blossoming a deep purple. There were various red marks from teasing and kisses that lined his sides and chest. He couldn’t help but feel bad for Zhengting, who probably didn’t want any of it and judging by the fact he was in a forced sleep and unable to fight back for himself properly.

“Zhangjing said he’d be here in five minutes,” Ziyi’s voice broke Wenjun out of his thoughts. He glanced up towards where Ziyi and Yanjun where standing, blinking once.

“Okay.”

“So… You gonna tell us why you decided to come back?” Yanjun asked, pursing his lips together. Wenjun merely shrugged, looking back down at Zhengting, who was now mostly clothed.

“There was something off about him when he bumped into me earlier and the way Bu Fan was acting, I don’t know. Something just didn’t feel right. When I came back up here to check, I heard the whip and some crying, so I didn’t want to just leave it.”

Yanjun’s expression flickered for a moment before he nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, I got you. Well, his roommate is coming to pick him up. We can ask him about how he wants to go forward with this when he gets here.”

Wenjun nodded and fixed his attention back onto the sleeping student on the bed in front of him. Zhengting’s face had contorted into a painful expression, the student muttering something too softly for Wenjun to pick up on. Gently, Wenjun took one of Zhengting’s hands in his, softly rubbing the back of it. When they were younger, Yanjun would do the same thing to Wenjun to calm him down, so Wenjun had thought it would hopefully work on Zhengting as well.

From downstairs, there seemed to be some kind of commotion as the doorbell began to ring incessantly. Ziyi looked down at his phone to watch the screen light up with text messages, presumably from the roommate. “That’s Zhangjing. Hold on, I’ll let him in,” and with that, Ziyi took off downstairs, leaving the twins with Zhengting.

Yanjun walked over to where Wenjun was sitting beside Zhengting, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Well, whatever feeling made you come back here, I’m glad you did. It probably would have been way worse if you didn’t stop them.”

Wenjun nodded, pausing as the sounds of crashing footsteps came out the stairs and a rather loud voice called out.

“Zhengting!? Where is he?” A face suddenly popped into the doorframe, followed by the rest of the body. “Oh my god, Zhengting!” The new person, who Wenjun presumed to be Zhangjing, pushed past Wenjun and Yanjun and began to softly call for Zhengting, worry lacing his voice. He was crouched by the sleeping boy, checking him over while continuing to quietly scold him.

“That’s Zhangjing. He’ll take good care of Zhengting until he’s all better,” Ziyi walked up behind the twins and nodded. Yanjun didn’t say anything, but instead kept his eyes trained on Zhangjing who, after his examination of Zhengting, stood up to face them.

“Can… Can you tell me what happened here? Like, I’ve always told Zhengting he’s gonna get in trouble with something sooner or later and he always brushed me off saying that he’ll be fine but now it really looks like he’s in trouble and I really, really don’t want this to happen again, but knowing him he’ll just go out again and-” Zhangjing paused, letting out a small gasp. “Sorry, I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

Yanjun chuckled slightly, grinning as he watched Zhangjing talk. “I think we can answer that question at a later time. For now, we should probably get Zhengting home.”

Zhangjing nodded, moving so he could begin to slide Zhengting onto his back, pulling the sleeping student by his arms. The lash marks on Zhengting’s back flashed in Wenjun’s head as he moved to push the smaller student out of the way. He nodded towards Ziyi, who looked equally as confused as Zhangjing, motioning for him to support Zhengting’s other side. Slowly, the two began to move out of the room with Zhengting supported between them, leaving just Zhangjing and Yanjun to follow.

“Sorry about my brother, he’s not the most social person in the world,” Yanjun said, giving Zhangjing a playful smile. “Here, I’ll give you my number. Wenjun doesn’t check his phone enough, so when Zhengting gets better, we can all get together to talk about it, okay?”

Wenjung glanced over his shoulder to see his twin eagerly tapping his number into Zhangjing’s phone, laughing as he probably made some kind of poor joke. He rolled his eyes as they neared the car, which was certainly a charming little thing. It was a small, old sedan that looked like it was on its last legs and bound to tumble into pieces at any given moment. Quickly, Zhangjing ran up to the side of it and unlocked the passenger side door, watching as the taller students situated Zhengting in the front seat.

“Thank you again for letting me know about this…” Zhangjing gave a small bow to the three who now stood on the sidewalk. He flashed them a quick smile, though it disappeared just as quickly as he cast a glance back at this passenger seat. "Once he wakes up, I'll be sure to let him know all that you've told me." He added, nodding towards Yanjun.

Yanjun nodded in return. “No problem. And if you have any questions, you know how to reach me.” He ended the statement with a small wink, causing the shorter student to blush before bowing one more time and scampering away into his car and driving off.

“Well, I better get going too. Xukun’s probably wondering where I am by now,” Ziyi said, checking his phone. “It’s later than I usually like to stay out.”

Yanjun wrinkled his nose slightly, nudging Ziyi as he did so. “You’re still living with that jerk? I can’t believe it…”

“You just don’t know him enough, that’s all!”

“Yeah yeah, okay,” Yanjun huffed out before waving Ziyi farewell, heading off to walk home in a separate direction, Wenjun following behind him.

They didn't exchange any words about what just happened, instead opting to walk in silence along the street. On occasion, they passed students traveling from one party to another, but otherwise the night was as quiet as them. “You know, I’m starting to believe in love at first sight…” Wenjun said softly after walking for a while. They had come to their own house now, with only a few lights in the building on. The older twin glanced back towards him, face lighting up.

“You mean you fell in love with Zhengting? Wow, I’m gonna have to tell everyone and totally make a plan for you two to get together! Wow, your spring is finally coming little bro!”

Wenjun merely shook his head, placing a hand on Yanjun’s shoulder as they stood on the patio of their shared house. “No, not me, but you kind brother. That poor Zhangjing kid doesn’t even know what he’s in store for.” With that, Wenjun unlocked the front door and headed inside, leaving a confused, and possibly surprised, Yanjun in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no intention for this chapter to take this long, oh golly. I was gonna post it before I left for vacation, but the keyboard for my laptop broke and I had to wait until I got home to fix it. Thankfully, the new one works perfectly and I can write with no issues now! Thanks for everyone who can put up with my terrible writing tendencies~!


	3. Chapter 3

When Zhengting woke up the next morning, several things registered in his groggy mind. First was how much his head fucking hurt, followed by how much his back _also fucking hurt_. His limbs felt heavy and if he could, he’d rather be crushed by a stone at that given moment than deal with whatever personal hell he was currently enduring. Opening one eye, Zhengting found himself level with a glass of water and a small pill bottle on his night stand. These were probably a gift from god himself (Zhangjing was godly most Friday mornings) in Zhengting’s mind as he began to edge himself towards them. His back burned with each motion, something he usually didn’t experience in his hungover state.

Once Zhengting was able to prop himself up enough to begin work on opening the pill bottle, he noticed a note under the glass of water. It was in Zhangjing’s familiar chicken scratch, the letters looking more like a mess of lines than anything else. After reading through it, Zhengting frowed. He was supposed to stay in bed for the day? And that he’d be filled in later on what happened? With a shake of his head, Zhengting moved to leave his bed, body protesting nearly every move.

Stay in bed! That’s not even an idea that’s crossed his mind. Sure he was in pain and the medicine hadn’t begun to kick in yet, but his modern dance class was later that afternoon and attendance was mandatory. There was no way he was gonna miss one class because Zhangjing said he’d regret going. Instead, the tired performance major made his way into the bathroom, yawning. He began to run the shower, letting it heat up before he got into it. Slipping his shirt off, Zhengting paused as he examined his body in the mirror.

White gauze wrapped its way around his torso, clinging tightly to his skin. He lowered one hand to touch it, almost not believing it was real. Once the rough texture met his finger, he quickly moved on to taking it off. What had happened? What he stabbed or something without realizing it?

Once the gauze wrap was removed, he didn’t notice anything too out of the ordinary. There were some kiss marks by his neck and other parts of his body, but that was not unusual after a night out. What was unusual though were the bruises by his hips. His sweatpants hung low enough for him to see matching purple marks on either side of his hips. Beyond that, the rest of him looked fine, so why the need for the gauze?

Turning his back towards the mirror and craning his head around, Zhengting saw what the gauze was there for: a collection of thin marks covered his back, most of them open and oozing a little bit of blood. Without being able to hold back shock, Zhengting’s face paled as he gently ran one hand over the cuts, flinching as the injuries hurt with each bit of pressure applied.

“What else did I expect…” He muttered to himself as he stared at the shower curtain in front of him. What had happened last night? He tried to search his mind for answers, but instead he was met with a worsening headache that seemed to block out every memory Zhengting tried to recall. He typically wasn’t the type to lose his memory after drinking, so everything being a blur was a new sensation to him.

Letting out a sigh, he removed the rest of his clothes and stepped into the shower. Everything somehow felt wrong. The water running over his head, the burning sensation on his back, even the marks on his hips. It felt as though his body wasn’t his own. Feeling rather detached from himself, he completed the shower quickly, mostly just washing his hair and lightly scrubbing down his body. He found that he was still able to move mostly just fine, but the pain in his back wasn’t subsiding. Taking fresh gauze, Zhengting began to wrap it back around himself, cursing softly as there was pressure was applied to his back and seemed to make the pain that much more apparent. He exited the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and fell back down onto his bed.

Checking the clock on his nightstand, it read 12:37, a kind hour before his class and a solid ten minutes before his bus came. Noticing this, Zhengting darted up from his position on his bed, body screaming in protest. Shoving some papers and a water bottle into his backpack, he grabbed his phone and wallet, shoving it into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Tugging that over his head and pulling on a pair of joggers, he slipped into his sneakers and ran out the door.

Heading outside, the autumn air seemed to cut right through his poor attempts at warmth. His bag was slung casually over one shoulder as he strode up to the bus stop. For a moment, he tried to convince himself that no, he didn’t look like a complete mess because Zhu Zhengting never looked messy, but pulling out his phone and opening the front camera revealed an eerily pale face and horrible hair. Pulling the hood up over his head, Zhengting moved to stand in line at the bus stop, trying to ignore the glances the others were giving him.

Soon enough, Zhengting found that even sitting on the bus was painful. He kept his bag in his lap and leaned slightly forward so the hard seat didn’t make contact with his injuries. The whole thing felt like it was too much for him. Maybe Zhangjing was right, maybe he should have stayed home. Send an e-mail to his professor and just stay in bed, like what he felt like he wanted to do at that moment. The bus pulling up to his university, though, said otherwise.

He got off with the other students and tried to hold back a small gasp of pain as he took the step down onto the sidewalk. Despite the pain killer he took earlier, it didn’t seem to be doing much to kill any of his pain. The most it did was lowering his headache to a dull throb. Checking his phone once again, the time had read 1:00 pm, which meant his still had another 40 minutes before his class. He knew Zhangjing was in class, and more importantly on the other side of campus, so instead Zhengting decided to waste some time in the library. Maybe there he could recall something about the night prior.

He strode across campus as a leisurely pace, trying to not bring any unwanted attention to himself. Though, he looked like many other tired and overworked students, so everything seemed to be going fine so far. Casually walking up the stairs to the library, he immediately regretted every action he'd taken since he woke up. His legs felt too heavy to properly go up each one, thighs screaming in protest with each step. Gritting his teeth, Zhengting eventually made it to the top of the staircase, wheezing slightly.

“Do you need help?” He jumped at the voice, only to turn around and see a tall figure next to him. Looking up, he saw a face that was vaguely familiar, but not currently ringing any bells. His cropped black hair somehow made Zhengting’s headache even worse, if that were possible. The thought that maybe he held some significance from whatever hell last night was, but it soon slipped away and back under the pain of a headache.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m a bit out of it…” Zhengting muttered, quickly righting himself and placing a hand on his pounding head. The other student chuckled, seeming amused.

“What, was my party last night too much for you?” Zhengting began to focus a bit more and recognized the student as the one who gave him the invite in the first place. He grinned and gave Zhengting a gentle nudge, causing the performance major to stumble slightly. He placed one hand on the stair rail to steady himself. Zhengting was ready to try a lot of things, but tumbling down the library stairs was not one of them right at that moment.

“Ahaha, yeah, that’s it…” Zhengting looked around the entrance of the library, watching multiple people make their way around the pair as the start time for classes began to near. The more people that went by, the more Zhengting’s head pulsed with pain. Why did this all seem so familiar? He could vaguely hear his name being called out by the student next to him, but it just seemed to blur into the background with everything else.

That was, until, something seemed to stand out from it all. The student in front of Zhengting was shoved away by someone much smaller than him. Chilly hands grasped his face and caused Zhengting to look up, meeting eyes with a very concerned brunette, a deep frown even causing dimples to show on his cheeks.

“Zeren…?” Zhengting groaned, quickly standing up straight as his headache began to subside slightly. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the library with Yanchen before class started. Are you okay? You look horrible…” Zeren’s familiar voice slowly began to pull Zhengting out of whatever stupor he was in, a worried Yanchen not that far behind him.

“N-No, I’m fine… Just still a bit out of it from last night,” he responded, nodding as if it were said enough times, it would come true. Zhengting could, and would, convince himself he was alright.

“You know, if you need to go home, I’m sure the professor would understand,” Yanchen added in, approaching Zeren and Zhengting. HIs voice held a similar note of worry as Zeren's did. Yanche placed a hand to Zhengting’s forehead, his own frown deepening. “I think you might have a fever too. Does Zhangjing know about this?”

Zhengting’s stood there in silence for a moment before turning and heading back down the stairs as quickly as his body would allow him, which wasn’t very fast. “So, what do you think we’re going to be rehearsing in class today? I know the professor had us learn a pretty difficult choreo last week, so do you think-”

“He totally doesn't know you're here! I bet he told you not to come in! I’m calling Zhangjing!” Zeren declared from the top of the stairs, quickly whipping out his phone.

That managed to stop Zhengting in his tracks, the brunette whipping around to fix the shorter with a glare. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me!” Came the indignant response.

Zhengting stood there in a glaring match with Zeren for a while before Yanchen cleared his throat. “Um, if Zhengting talks to the professor before class, maybe that would work better? Ya know, instead of just not showing up?”

Zeren narrowed his eyes as he silently placed his phone back into his pocket, moving in a purposely slow motion. “Fine, we can do that. Then you better go straight home afterwards, Zhengting! But if you don’t, I’m telling Zhangjing.”

“Why does that sound you’re gonna tattle on me to my mom or something?” Zhengting complained as the pair joined him at the base of the library steps.

He was familiar enought with both of them, as they shared his major. Though, where Zhengting had a focus in more traditional dances, Zeren and Yanchen both focused in modern dances. He remembered meeting Yanchen during orientation their first year, Zeren joining their small group another year later, claiming to be a childhood friend of Yanchen. They quickly became a steadfast group, and the pair, though annoying at times, being some of the few people who tolerate Zhengting’s personal antics. On occasion, they even joined in on them.

“Because he’s the closest thing you have to a mom! No one wants to get him angry,” Yanchen added with an exaggerated shiver, crossing his arms. “One time, I saw him telling off some guy that nearly crashed into me when he was picking me up from one of my night classes. Pretty sure he was scarier than any cop would have been.”

Zhengting snickered, imagining Zhangjing yelling out of his little sedan at someone going through a crosswalk with Yanchen on the side of the road. Of course, because the pair were close with Zhengting, it had only been a matter of time before they met Zhangjing as well. The education major was welcoming of the new friends, the four of them often hanging out together on their days off.

And that was everyone Zhengting was close to on campus, which was fine with him. He had some other acquaintances that he met through classes and parties, but no one he was particularly attached to. He didn’t really need anyone else in college, as his three friends provided plenty enough entertainment for him.

“Zhu Zhengting! What the hell are you doing out of bed!” There was a pause from the group as they stood in front of the doors to the gym. A voice rang clear across the Quad, which was fairly large. The familiar tone already was causing shivers to go up Zhengting’s back. Casting one glance over his shoulder, he immediately knew he did not want to be where he currently was for much longer.

“Go, go, go!” He hissed quickly to Zeren and Yanchen, who were doing their best not to burst out in laughter at the sight of Zhangjing making his way towards them. Shoving the pair in front of him, Zhengting began to walk up towards the elevator, rapidly pressing the button to go up while casting glances towards the main entryway. Yanchen and Zeren were now on the verge of tears as the main doors opened with Zhangjing bursting through them and stomping towards Zhengting.

“Zhu Zhengting, you better get your nonexistent ass back here or so help me-!”

The elevator doors dinged open as it arrived on their floor, Zhengting rushing in and pressing down on the button to close them. That didn’t seem to phase Zhangjing, though, who simply stuck his arm into the closing doors, causing them to reopen and allowing him to step inside. He merely stood there, several inches shorter than Zhengting, but presence overwhelming. Slowly, the elevator rose to the floor where the studio was. Zeren and Yanchen got off, watching as Zhengting mouthed a silent “help me” before waving as the doors closed again and went slowly back down to the main floor.

The ride, which was realistically only a few seconds at most, seemed to stretch into hours as Zhangjing stood there next to Zhengting, arms crossed with a stern expression on his face. They exchanged no words as they eventually were welcomed with an unfamiliar face on the main floor, who smiled as the doors opened.

Zhangjing merely tugged Zhengting by his sweatshirt out of the elevator, their new companion now following slightly behind them. Glancing quickly, the performance major realized that the stranger was carrying Zhangjing’s usual backpack, along with what was probably his own. He was nearly the same height as Zhengting and seemed rather amused with the whole situation. It wasn’t until they left the building that Zhangjing finally decided to let it all out.

“Zhengting, how old are you?”

“Uh, 21?”

Zhangjing rounded on his roommate, eyes blazing. “Then at 21 years old, can you not read!? Can you not understand the fact you’ve been running a fever, you’re injured, and there’s something wrong with you? Do you have no self preservation skills whatsoever that can recognize you probably look and feel like shit!? I explicitly told you to stay in bed because you’re only going to make yourself coming out here! You probably knew the second you got out of bed that you should have stayed home and listneed to me, but did you? Nope! And I know you have every ability in the world to check your phone and text me with literally anything, so if you had questions, couldn’t you, oh, I don’t know, send me a message? And wait maybe twenty minutes before you got an answer? Maybe if you just actually took care of yourself for two seconds, you wouldn’t look like you’re about to fall over!”

Zhangjing, for having such a small body, had a surprisingly large lung capacity. He didn’t even seem to be short of breath when he finished telling Zhengting off. Instead, he looked fairly ticked off, arms crossed over his shoulders and expression in a sharp glare. Zhengting just looked around uncomfortably, not able to meet the gaze of his motherly roommate. Meanwhile, the mystery stranger moved up beside Zhangjing, resting one hand on his shoulder in order to quell the shorter’s rage.

“Maybe we should explain everything to him first before you burst out again, yeah? Be thankful enough that your class ended early and you were able to catch up with him.” This seemed to pull Zhangjing away from fuming at Zhengting, his expression softening a bit.

“You’re right I guess…” Zhengting raised one brow as he watched how suddenly docile Zhangjing had turned, not seeing him do this for anyone else before. The stranger continued to speak, mentioning the library before Zhengting internally flinched, remember what had occurred at the steps not too long ago.

“Can it be somewhere else, maybe? Without stairs?” He interjected softly, looking between the two. “I’m just going to put it out there that stairs aren’t my best friend right now. I tried them earlier, I did not like it.”

The stranger laughed slightly, raising one brow. “You can always go up the ramp too, you know. No need to take the stairs.”

Zhengting felt his face flush red in embarrassment as he was reminded of the far easier method to get into the library, before Zhangjing was on him once more. “You’re telling me that you can’t even go up stairs? How the hell did you even get out of bed!?”

“With effort?” The taller brunette offered with a cheesy before it quickly disappeared under the scrutiny of Zhangjing’s glare. Slowly, to make it easier for Zhengting, the trio walked back to where he originally came from with Zeren and Yanchen. This time, he made sure to use the sloped ramp on the side of the library to reach the front doors instead of the stairs.

Once there, Zhengting followed behind the stranger with Zhangjing, who seemed to be looking for something. He made a small noise once he found whatever he was looking for, making a firm beeline between the tables to reach his destination. The stranger motioned for the roommates to follow him, leading them through the various tables that made up the central part of the library's main room.

Upon arrival, they found that what the stranger was looking for wasn’t a something, but instead a someone. Sitting at one of the tables was a stern looking student, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and surrounded by notes, books, and a laptop. Once he noticed the group approach his table he paused for a moment, watching as everyone took a seat. Zhengting found himself struggling more than he thought just to sit, trying to make sure his back didn’t touch the chair. He found the student seated across from him stare intensely as he did so, but nothing was said until everyone was settled.

“Alright then, we may as well get right into things,” the original stranger started, leaning back in his own chair. “I’m Yanjun, and this is my twin brother, Wenjun.” Wenjun nodded as his name was mentioned. “And to start off, how much do you remember about last night?”

Zhengting froze, not expecting the question to come so soon. With the three others staring intensely at him, their gazes seemed to double down on his headache. “N-Not much? And can I get a bit more context about what’s happening exactly?”

For the first time since they sat down, Wenjun began to speak. His voice was slow and careful, almost as if he were treating Zhengting like a wild animal. “Last night, you were involved in a case that you may or may not want to press charges on. We’re all… mild witnesses to it, but if I were you, it’d be best to see what you can remember from the night.”

Zhengting sat there for a moment, trying to take it all in. The more he thought about it, the more his head throbbed in pain. Press charges? Did he do something illegal? Was something illegal done to him? Wait, that one made more sense, but Zhengting could not find anything in his cloudy memory to give the statement sustenance. What could possibly have been done to him? Did it have to do with the weird marks and bruises?

“Wenjun, why don’t you show him the video? Just so he can maybe get an idea of what happened,” Yanjun suggested, leaning forward to rest his chin on interlocked fingers. Across from the shorter twin, Zhangjing seemed much more on edge about the whole thing, looking between Zhengting and the twins.

“I-I’ll watch it I guess?” Wenjun nodded and pulled out his phone. It looked dwarfed in his hand, obviously some kind of older model that hadn’t been updated for many years. He scrolled through it a bit before sliding it towards Zhengting, who picked it up to start the video that was on the screen. Next to him, Zhangjing also scooted closer, watching the video over Zhengting’s shoulder.

Though somewhat blurry, the video showed a door opening and the camera panning around to a group of several guys, many of them not fully dressed. In the middle of the room was a bed with two individuals on it. One held a whip in his hand and the other seemed to be unconscious under him, though it was hard to make out who they could have been. Soon, the guys lining the side of the room began to scramble out and past the camera shouting in alarm and leaving behind the guy on the bed, who exchanged some words with the camera before leaving. The last thing shown on the video was the person on the bed, red marks criss crossing his back and tears staining his cheeks. Their eyes were closed, but breath seemed shallowed as the camera got closer and inspected them. Zhengting’s breath hitched in his throat as the face in the video became clearer, mirroring every feature of his own.

He all but threw the phone back towards Wenjun, face losing all color from it. “I-I need… to think…” Zhengting muttered before robotically getting up from his seat, stumbling into a nearby table as he did so. He could hear Zhangjing call out to him, but his head was pounding too much to function properly. Everything about that video was just wrong, but him in the ending? Was that him? Why couldn't he remember it?

The pain on his back would mirror that of the whip held by the person on top of Zhengting, but he had no clue about anything else. His legs seemed to go weak under him and Zhengting would have fallen down if he wasn’t caught by a reassuring pair of arms.

“Steady…” The voice in his ear was familiar, meaning it must have been one of the twins, but Zhengting couldn’t tell which one. His mind was still swirling with information as he was gently lead back to his seat, gingerly sitting down once more. Everyone seemed to stare at him and wait anxiously for a response, but sadly he had none for them. At least, not right then.

“I-I just… want to go home…” Eventually words left Zhengting’s lips and soon enough, he was being guided out of the library by an overly concerned Zhangjing. Zhengting's body was running on autopilot now, his mind not properly taking in everything around them. He could feel a firm hand around his arm as the roommates walked out together. Absently, Zhengting stared around at the library, hoping other students didn’t take notice of his odd behavior. His mind rolled over the familiar books and tables before it stopped on one student in particular.

He quickly made eye contact with the student who was fiercely watching him from the side of the room. The table he was sitting at was located just by the front doors and pushed into a corner. Zhengting felt like his heart dropped down into his stomach as his muddled mind matched the face in front of him with the one from the video from earlier, eyes going wide as the other student’s face split into a wide grin, obviously noticing Zhengting's attention.

If Zhangjing hadn’t been supporting him, the brunette was sure he would have collapsed on the floor right then and there. Instead, his vision was blocked by a new view. Wenjun and Yanjun had caught up to the two of them and flocked either side of the roommates, sheilding them from any curious onlookers. Zhengting looked up to see Wenjun with as straight a face as ever on his side. He guessed Yanjun was on Zhangjing's side, sandwiching the roommates between them.

Once outside, Zhengting took what felt like his first breath in ages as he was led down the ramp by the group around him. Wenjun still took up his left side until the group reached the bottom. There, he moved in front of Zhengting, Yanjun appearing from behind them to join Wenjun. They all paused to allow Zhengting to collect himself for a moment. There was some movement from the twins as they spoke softly to one another and the sound of tearing paper could be heard. Soon enough, a slip of paper made its way into Zhengting's vision, two names and sets of numbers scribbled on it.

“If you need us, text the top number first. Yanjun is more likely to answer his phone than I am,” Wenjun said softly as Zhengting took the paper from his hand and looked up. He nodded numbly before the twins began to take off, waving farewell to the roommates. Zhengting looked down on the paper for a moment before looking back towards the twins, stepping forward a bit.

“Wenjun!” The taller twin paused, looking back questioningly for a moment. “Um, thank you! You know... For last night.” Wenjun blinked before awkwardly nodding his head and rushing to catch up with his twin. Zhengting watched as he was playfully shoved by Yanjun, a ghost of a smile pulling at his lips.

“C’mon, let’s get you home,” Zhangjing said softly from Zhengting’s side, directing the taller brunette in the direction of their home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My idea for this chapter was originally much longer, so I chose to split it in two. Next one will be introducing some more good boys :)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's commented and left kudos so far, it really keeps me going!


	4. Chapter 4, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible trigger warning for panic attacks

When Zhengting actually got home, he didn’t want to do anything. The whole ride in Zhangjing’s car had been silent, neither one of them wanting to breach the topic of Wenjun’s video. It also didn’t help that his head had begun to pound even worse than before, like the memories were fighting some barrier to emerge from the depths of his mind. Either that, or the medicine he took earlier was starting to wear off. Regardless, it felt like he wasn’t going to recall anything anytime soon, so once they arrived at the apartment, Zhengting muttered something about not being distrubed to Zhangjing and promptly went into his bed, crashing down onto it face first.

He laid on top of his messy covers, stomach down and face planted into his pillow. Something about what had just happened over the course of the last hour seemed to break him and soon enough, Zhengting found himself crying into his pillow softly. Tears rolled down his cheeks without stopping, effectively soaking the material under it. His whole body was wracked with his violent sobs. Though, he was thankful that the pillow muffled any sounds that he made from crying, lest Zhangjing come in and discover his roommate in this broken state.

Thinking back to the video, Zhengting still found it hard to wrap his head around it all. That was him, in that room, on that bed. The video was clear enough evidence of that, but why didn’t it feel like him? Why couldn’t he look at that and go “Oh, I remember that”? Why was everything so difficult?

Angry with himself more than anything, Zhengting flipped himself over onto his back and let out a small hiss of pain. The lash marks, now that he knew what they were, burned as he applied his body’s pressure onto them. They too, served as a reminder of just how real that video was and that he was in the process of healing. Eventually, the pain dimmed down to a tolerable amount, but the headache he had wasn’t helping any. Sparing a glance towards the pill bottle on his nightstand, Zhengting merely let out an angry huff at it.

Instead, he took one of his free throw pillows and put it over his face. Once it was secure, he screamed. He screamed as loud as he could, until his throat felt scratchy and chest heaved with effort. And even then, he only took a second to scream again. They mangled into distressed sobs as his arms fell down to his side. The pillow slid off Zhengting’s face and sat against his cheek, still awkwardly warm and damp from where he screamed.

Now he was fixed to stare at the ceiling, the cracked and peeling paint not offering much in a way of reassurance. Instead, that came from a small knock on the door. When Zhengting didn’t answer, it came again with a slightly louder sound.

“Zhengting? Are you doing okay in there?” Zhangjing’s worried voice came out from the door. Zhengting merely let out a small groan, clearly indicating that no, he was not okay. “Do you want anything?”

“To be left alone.”

“Zhengting…”

“Zhangjing,” Zhengting’s reply had a slightly snarky tone to it, causing Zhangjing to scoff in return.

“Fine, I won’t fight with you. But if you do need anything, let me know.”

Even though he knew Zhangjing couldn’t see him, Zhengting couldn’t hold back an eye roll. “Okay mom,” he teased. Soon enough, his roommate’s footsteps were heard going away from the door and the playful smile that had pulled at Zhengting’s lips fell immediately. The banter was nice, but he just felt so… off about it. Something stung deep inside his chest, something he didn’t have the right words to describe what it was, but it was uncomfortable nonetheless.

After their brief conversation, Zhengting returned his gaze to the ceiling. Nothing in his brain seemed to actually be processing, the performance major not even realizing he fell asleep until a small sliver of light woke him. Letting out a small groan, he heard several voices from where he was on his bed. Suddenly, it became hard to breathe. In his mostly dark room, the voices crowded his head, going from the small conversation outside his room to morphing into low voices that cooed at him and laughed. His skill crawled with and the more he looked around, the hazier everything seemed to become.

It hurts, let me go, stop stop stop stop! Zhengting’s mind screamed those words as he looked around wildly, trying to scrambling out of his bed. His lungs seemed to heave with the effort and heart thudded wildly in his chest. Soon enough, he felt himself crash onto the floor and the words flooded from his head to his mouth.

“Stop stop stop stop! Leave me alone! It hurts! It hurts!” Zhengting screamed from his position on the floor. He scrambled back towards the wall, tugging his blanket around himself as he looked around. Suddenly, there was more light and several blurry figures made their way towards him. Instinctually, Zhengting lashed out with his arms and legs, though their movement was limited due to the blanket. “No! Get away! It hurts, leave me alone!”

The blurry figures seemed to stop in front of him, none of them moving as Zhengting’s thrashing began to lessen. He stared up at them, panting as his eyes shifted from person to person. Slowly, each blur seemed to sharpen into a better image, the outlines of his friends gradually becoming clearer. Zhangjing was crouched down a little bit in front of Zhengting, Zeren and Yanchen a little ways behind him.

As Zhengting’s breathing leveled out, Zhangjing moved forward, tilting his head to the side. “Zhengting…? It’s me, Zhangjing. Zhengting can you hear me?”

Zhengting paused before answering, studying his roommates face. It was the usual baby faced education major he’s lived with for years at this point, but for some reason, Zhengting couldn’t quell the panic that kept his heart thudding against his chest. A few more moments later, Zhangjing offered a hand to Zhengting, motioning towards him.

“Zhengting, it’s me. I won’t hurt you. It’s okay. You’re okay,” Zhangjing said softly, his smile warm and welcoming as always. Suddenly, Zhengting felt something in himself crumble and practically threw himself into his roommate’s arms. In fact, he didn’t even realize how badly he was shaking until Zhangjing’s stable body pulled him into a hug. A hand brushed through his hair as Zhangjing murmured some words softly, Zhengting eventually calming down.

“I-I’m sorry…” Were the first words that tumbled out of Zhengting’s mouth when he found the ability to speak again. “I don’t know what happened. I woke up and then…” He trailed off at that point, not sure what else to say.

“It looked like a panic attack to me,” Zeren commented from his position by the door. He was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest. When Zhengting looked at him with a blank expression, he coughed and continued. “You know, feeling like you’re panicking when there’s not really anything to cause it? I knew this kid back home who used to get them a lot, so it looked like you were going through something similar. It varies from person to person, though.”

“And they’re usually triggered by something,” Yanchen added with a nod. “Though, waking up seems to be a pretty weird one. Have you ever had one before?”

Zhengting shook his head. He slowly began to untangle himself from Zhangjing’s arms, standing up painfully. The medicine he took that morning had definitely worn off at this point and his body protested nearly every movement he made. Zhangjing stood up beside him, gnawing on his lower lip. He often did that when he was thinking hard about something, Zhengting noticed, but he didn’t say anything else.

“Maybe you should get it checked out, bro. That was pretty bad,” Zeren said, moving himself to stand straighter. “I mean, I think it wouldn’t hurt at least.”

Zhengting merely shrugged, walking over to where his friends were. “I’m sure it was probably a one-time thing. I think I might have had a nightmare or something?” He could almost feel Zhangjing’s gaze as he walked past Zeren and into the living room of the small apartment. “I can’t remember any part of it.” Perking up, Zhengting snapped his fingers. “Oh, maybe it was something about that zombie movie I saw the other day! Zombies freak me out…”

Zeren snorted as he followed Zeren out and plopped himself down on the couch. “You mean the movie that had you nearly crying like a baby and insisting to sleep with the lights on?”

“Shut up! I wasn’t that bad!”

“Oh no, you were that bad. Really, I’m surprised you didn’t ask us all to sleep together!” Zeren laughed, Yanchen joining in. As the three of them went back and forth, Zhangjing stayed quiet and took a seat on one of the kitchen chairs.

It wasn’t much longer before Zeren and Yanchen left, leaving Zhengting with notes about what they covered that day in his missed class. Zhengting waved them off from the front door before closing it with a sigh. He felt burned out, like every part of him was about to shut down right there. Turning around, he caught his roommate’s eye before quickly diverting his gaze.

“Zhengting, we need to talk about this,” the smaller brunette said carefully, not moving from his chair.

“Talk about what? The weather? You know, I can’t believe Yanchen was wearing something that light, I mean, it has to be around-”

“Zhengting.” The performance major stopped at the sound of his name, mouth opening to say more before closing again and sealing itself into a firm line. “You know this is probably a lot worse than you’re making it.”

“God, can you stop being right for two seconds. I just- listen, I don’t know, okay? I woke up, it happened, and now it’s over. Can we just forget it ever happened?” Zhengting fidgeted awkwardly, Zhangjing’s stare making it feel like he was being analyzed from the inside out. “Also, I feel bad for each and every one of your students in the future, Mr. You.”

Zhangjing sighed and got up from his chair. “Fine, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t press you. But, if this happens again, at least let me know?” He looked up at his roommate, pulling a perfect puppy dog expression. And Zhengting knew that would be his ultimate downfall in this whole conversation.

“Okay, I’ll tell you, I got it. Just stop with the puppy dog eyes, they make my heart too weak!” He playfully placed a hand on his forehead, leaning back as far as his back would let him. Zhangjing laughed as Zhengting did so, his demeanor returning to normal.

“Good! Now, how about some dinner?”

Zhengting wrinkled his nose, jokingly shoving Zhangjing aside as he made his way into the kitchen and opening the cupboards. “Cooked by you? I’d rather starve!”

Zhangjing’s mouth fell open as he then followed his roommate into the kitchen, pulling out some leftovers from the fridge. “Like you would do any better! You basically make poison!”

They both burst out in laughter and cheerfully poked at each other until they bid good night to one another later that night. Zhengting all but crumpled into his bed once he reached it. Has interacting with Zhangjing always been that hard? He shook his head slightly, trying to ignore the nagging thought as he opened the pill bottle and took a few aspirin with a gulp of water. Laying on his side, he curled up into himself as he tried to go back to sleep, the day eventually passing by in a fitful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Split this chapter up into two parts because by the time I finished writing it, it was 12 pages long and I felt like it would read better like that. Hope you can understand why this part is so short!


	5. Chapter 4, Part 2

Saturday mornings were busy for Zhengting and he would never trade them from the world. It was oddly the one day of the week that he was able to peel himself out of bed bright and early, dress himself, and eat a small breakfast all by 8 am. It was at this time Zhangjing would come out of his own room and get ready for the day at a far slower pace.

“How did you sleep last night?” The education major asked around a mouth full of toothbrush. He was trying to brush his hair and teeth at the same time, though it didn’t seem to be going as well as he had hoped.

“I mean, I slept just fine. I was really tired,” Zhengting responded from the couch. He was tapping away at his phone, occasionally looking up at Zhangjing to see just how much progress the other was making.

“How could you be tired? You took, like, a three hour nap!” Zhangjing emerged from the bathroom, having given up trying to brush two things at once and now was pulling the brush through his hair.

Zhengting shrugged, hiding behind his phone. “I dunno, I just was.”

Zhangjing rolled his eyes before placing his brush down and disappearing into his room before coming out in a different outfit. Zhengting raised one brow and looked his roommate up and down. He was dressed in an oddly tasteful outfit, which was unusual for him. Zhangjing was usually the kind of guy to go out in jeans and whatever shirt he grabbed first, so seeing him in a red flannel with clasps over a white shirt, black jeans, and converse was a bit out of the norm.

“What?” Zhangjing asked, grabbing his keys off the table and leading the way out the door.

“Oh nothing!” Zhengting said in a sing-song voice, looping one arm over the shorter’s shoulders. “I just thought you were only tutoring today! Trying to look nice for Ziyi?”

Zhangjing jokingly gagged as they made their way out to his car, parked in the small lot behind their building. “What, no! Gross, Zhengting. Ziyi and I are just friends!”

Zhengting slid into the passenger seat, his back stinging slightly as he leaned back. “Let’s see… If not Ziyi, then maybe someone else? Or, perhaps, are you going on a date?” To emphasize his point, the dancer wiggled his eyebrows at his driver, causing Zhangjing to immediately go red.

“I-It’s not a date! He’s just introducing me to someone to help me with one of my classes!” Zhangjing said defensively, not meeting Zhengting’s eyes. “You know, the guy we saw the other day, Yanjun? He’s an English major so Ziyi said he could help me.”

“... Zhangjing, you suck at English,” Zhengting said before bursting out into laughter, holding his sides as he tried to compose himself.

“Shut up, I know that! That’s why I got help!” Zhangjing hissed, taking one hand off the wheel to land a punch on his supposed friend’s arm. That still didn’t stop Zhengting from laughing, which eventually died down to small giggles.

“Help from a hot guy? Didn’t think you were that type~!” Zhengting continued to tease his roommate until Zhangjing nearly rolled his eyes into the back of his head. Eventually, he pulled up to the side of the road, unlocking the door for Zhengting to get out.

“Get out! I refuse to deal with this kind of slandering!” Zhangjing shook his fist at Zhengting’s retreating from, smiling as the taller quickly hopped out. “I’m still doing my usual stuff with Ziyi, so it’ll be a double session. Do you still want me to pick you up when we finish?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine! I’m sure I can take the bus back or something,” Zhengting said with a nod. “Later, Xiyou!”

“Zhengting!” The brunette turned around as he heard his name called, tilting his head slightly as Zhangjing spoke through the open passenger window. “Be careful, okay?”

Zhengting blinked before he nodded and gave a thumbs up, turned back around towards the large building that was in front of him. It was fairly complex looking on the outside with large windows and various floors, but Zhengting walked in with no hesitation. He maneuvered through the halls with no effort, even nodding to a few people he passed. Soon enough, he walked up to the reception desk, smiling at the receptionist.

“Hello there! I’m here to see Quanzhe!” Zhengting said brightly, flashing the receptionist with a dazzling smile.

“Good morning Zhengting! Right on time as always,” the receptionist winked at him, before turning to a computer and typing something in. “He’s actually in a session now, so if you want, feel free to wait in his room! I’m sure he’d be excited to see you.”

“Okay! Thank you!” Almost as if he was bouncing, Zhengting rushed down the familiar hall and into a room marked 122. Looking around, he only was met with an empty room, so he went and sat down gingerly in a chair next to the bed. He looked around the room and smiled slightly to himself. It had changed so much in the past five years, that it almost didn’t look like a hospital room any more.

“Okay, now we’re nearly there. Do you think you can let Guoba take the lead from here?” Zhengting perked up at the sound of a voice outside the room, though it didn’t sound like any one he heard here before.

“I think so? So I just let him bring me there?” There was the voice Zhengting was waiting for, coming from further down the hall.

“Yeah, tell him ‘door’ and he should stop once he gets here!” Zhengting heard the voice again and leaned forward. He could make out someone outside the room, speaking to Quanzhe, who seemed to be further down the hall.

“Okay… Guoba, let’s go!” Quanzhe’s voice came again, sounds slightly closer. It was accompanied by a series of clicks before his voice was heard again. “Okay Guoba… Door?”

Suddenly, there was a shuffling noise outside the room and Zhengting stood, smiling at the sight. His younger brother, Quanzhe, was standing outside the door with a dog on his side and a smile on his face. The dog paused before leading Quanzhe into the room slowly and pausing once they were inside.

“D-Did we do it?” Quanzhe asked, turning around in the direction where he came from.

“You did a great job, Zhezhe!” Zhengting chimed from his position by the chair. Quanzhe’s head whipped around as he heard his brother’s voice.

“Zhengting! You’re here!” Letting go of the harness, Quanzhe made his way towards where he heard Zhengting, crushing his brother in a tight hug. “I missed you!”

Zhengting chuckled, hugging his brother back and planting a soft kiss on his head. It was hard to hold back any signs of pain from the hug, his back still throbbing from the lashes. “Missed me? It’s only been a week!”

Quanzhe pouted, taking one step back. “But you don’t get it! So much happened this week!”

Zhengting nodded, leading Quanzhe back over to where the harnessed dog was waiting. “I can tell. Looks like you’re having fun.”

Whoever was standing outside had entered the room, smiling at the brothers. When Zhengting noticed him, he saw that the person was wearing a vest that had a dog training company logo on it. “Yeah! But I wanted to wait until everyone was here first…” Quanzhe tilted his head slightly and blinked a few times. “I don’t hear Justin yet…”

Zhengting gently led Quanzhe over to his bed, sitting down on it. “Well, why don’t you introduce me to everyone first then?” The dog shuffled along with them and sat down at Quanzhe’s feet once they were on the bed.

“Oh, sure! Um, this is Guoba, he’s gonna be my new guide dog!” Quanzhe reached a hand out to feel for the dog before letting out a small gasp and smile as a cold nose met his hand. “And over there is Xinchun,” his cheeks turned a slight red at the mention of the worker’s name, something Zhengting took a mental note of. “He’s been helping me and Guoba work together.”

Xinchun stepped forward, clearing his throat before he began to talk. “Hi there! I’m Xinchun, a professional dog handler. I work with various kinds of service dogs and do one-on-one handling between dogs and their owners. I started working with Quanzhe at the start of the week and personally trained Guoba up from a puppy myself. I do have to say, they make a great team!” He pulled a card out of the pocket of his vest and offered it to Zhengting. “If you have any questions about the process, feel free to contact me here.”

Zhengting took the card and looked it over before smiling up at Xinchun. “Thank you so much for this. I’m sure Zhezhe here has already told you, but he’s been itching to get a guide dog for a few years now. I’m sure he’s trying to do everything perfectly!” Zhengting laughed before he felt Quanzhe hit his arm lightly, the boy’s face lighting up red.

“Zhengting!”

Xinchun joined in the laughter, nodding. “He’s been working very well with Guoba! They’re one of the best pairs I worked with.” A beeping sound cut off anything he was going to say next. Xinchun took out his phone and silenced the alarm. “That’s the end of my shift. Do you want to keep Guoba with you for today or should I take him back?”

“Would it be okay if I kept him overnight? My cousin is visiting today to, so I wanted to show him…” Quanzhe turned his head in Xinchun’s direction, though his eyes weren’t fixed on the trainer. Zhengting felt a stab of pain in his heart at the simple motion.

His brother’s once clear face was now marred with various scars. They have faded over the years, but still held the pain from years past. The worst was a jagged one that ran from eye to eye with smaller ones littered about his face. Zhengting knew he loved his brother no matter what, but no matter how many times he saw him in this state, his heart ached.

Xinchun merely smiled, taking a few steps over to Quanzhe and placing what looked like a bag of treats in his hands. “His food is over by the nurses’ station. I’ll bring down his food and water bowl from the training room. Does that sound good to you?”

Quanzhe nodded his head, taking the bag from XInchun. “We’ll be here!” He chirped before listening to the trainer walk away.

After a few moments of silence, Zhengting slung his arm around his brother, giving him a playful nudge. “Xinchun, huh? Seems like a good kid.”

Quanzhe nodded, playing with the bag of treats in his hands. “Yeah… I started training with Guoba on Monday. H-He was really nice to me and doesn’t talk down to me because I can’t see.” Zhengting felt his heart swell as the younger’s voice grew soft. “He’s been really encouraging and I like working with him a lot.”

“I’m happy to see that…” Zhengting murmured softly before Quanzhe perked his head up and looked towards the door. “I think Justin’s coming.”

As soon as he spoke, the sound of a loud and overly cheerful “Hello!” could be heard from down the hall. It was followed by the rapid sound of footsteps before Justin himself appeared and barreled through the door, launching himself at his older cousins.

“Zhengting! Zhezhe! Good morning!” Justin took a step back to look at his cousins before noticing the brown fluffy thing at his feet. “And good morning to this cutie too! Who are you?”

“My worker, that’s who. And if you could refrain from petting him until his harness is off, I’d greatly appreciate it.” Xinchun was walking in with a bowl in each hand and placed them down in an empty spot next to the door. Quanzhe tried to hold back giggle as Justin was scolded, though was only mildly successful. Xinchun walked over the took Guoba’s harness off, placing it at the end of Quanzhe’s bed.

“Well, it’s not my fault no one updated me on this development!” Justin said with a pout, watching as Guoba moved to lay down on the floor with a paw on Quanzhe’s foot. “That being said, I would like an update.”

“I’ll tell you soon enough!” Quanzhe said before turning to where he heard Xinchun last. “Same time tomorrow?”

Xinchun smiled and nodded, though his expression after seemed to show that he remembered Quanzhe couldn’t see him. “Yep, see you then! Have a good rest of your day!” With that, Xinchun gave a small wave to Justin and Zhengting before leaving.

“So, is this a guide dog?” Justin asked, crouching down and petting the poodle at Quanzhe’s feet.

“Yeah! Uncle and Auntie said that I could finally get one. Which I hope means I can leave soon!” Quanzhe started excitedly. “The doctors said everything is as healed as it’s going to get, so with their okay, I’m sure that I’ll be able to go home!”

“Oh, sweet! Then you’d come live with us, right? That would be awesome!” Justin popped up from his position on the floor and trapped Quanzhe in another tight hug, rattling off all the things they would do once Quanzhe moved in with him. Zhengting sat off to the side, watching the two plan what sorts of misadventures they would probably go on. He smiled at the younger pair as Justin began describing everything he could about the house and where he would bring Quanzhe.

“And Zhengting will join us too! Right?” The oldest jolted slightly as the two turned to look at him with hopeful expressions.

“Of course! Who could say no to you two?” Zhengting moved forward to ruffle their hair. “But, won’t you be able to meet Xinchun any more, Zhezhe?”

Immediately, the younger brother’s face lit red at the comment, reaching out to swipe at Zhengting and miss when the older moved back. “Shut up!”

“Oh? Zhezhe has a crush! Zhezhe has a crush!” Justin chanted, quickly turning into the target of Quanzhe’s attacks. The youngest cousin doged each hit easily while continuing to tease the older. “Our little Zhezhe’s spring is finally here!”

“Shut it, Justin! I’m older than you anyway, so you can’t call me little!” Quanzhe said, launching himself forward to tackle Justin, only for his arms to be caught by the younger.

“I dunno, from what I can tell, you’re still shorter than me, so that makes you little!” Justin laughed and released his grip on Quanzhe, who would have fallen forward if Guoba hadn’t gotten up and stood in front of his owner, letting out a bark at Justin while wagging his tail.

“See! At least Guoba is on my side!” Quanzhe cried, dramatically falling to the floor and hugging the poodle. As if to confirm it, Guoba let out another bark at Justin.

“What? I’m on your side! I support this love!” Justin claimed, pouting and crossing his arms as he sat down on the chair. Quanzhe merely rolled his eyes and moved to sit back onto the bed with Zhengting.

They turned their talk to more tame subjects, like how Justin was trying out for his school’s basketball team. Zhengting sat holding his brother’s hand as they talked, just as they always did. Something about it seemed to always calm him down, as if he was confirming he wasn’t alone in the world quite yet.

As always, after nearly two hours of talking, a nurse came in to gently shoo out Justin and Zhengting, stating it was time was Quanzhe’s check up. Though they were both reluctant to leave, Justin and Zhengting bid farewell to Quanzhe.

“I’ll see you next week, Zhezhe! I’ll let you know if I get on the team or not!” Justin said, giving his cousin one last hug before leaving the room. Zhengting was next, brushing his brother’s bangs away from his face.

“If you need anything, don’t forget to call me, okay? I’ll see you next week.” Quanzhe nodded as his older brother planted a soft kiss on his forehead before leaving the room. Once he was in the doorway, Zhengting couldn’t help himself from adding one more thing.

“And Quanzhe?”

“Yeah?”

“Let me know how it goes with Xinchun, okay?”

Zhengting laughed as he was chased out of the room with a flurry of curses and choice wording from Quanzhe. Though his brother was often playful and shy, seeing this kind of outburst was refreshing. It was good to know he still could express himself properly.

Stepping out of the hospital, Zhengting took a deep breath. He suddenly felt very drained, though he wasn’t sure what it was from. He’s gotten used to Justin’s energy over the years, so he didn’t think it was that. Neither was it Quanzhe, who Zhengting couldn’t even imagine loving anyone more. He took a set on a benchm trying to mull over his options.

The sun felt nice on his skin as the autumn wind blew through. The season would begin to change soon, something Zhengting wasn’t looking forward too, but he embraced the feeling of the sun while it lasted. He turned his attention to the small shopping center across the road, a collection of stores and eateries attracting those who chose to spend their Saturday shopping. He scanned the various storefronts before he felt something in his blood run cold.

In front of a popular frozen yogurt place he and Zhangjing often visited were some tables. They were decorated in bright and playful colors, but that wasn’t what caught Zhengting’s attention. Instead, it was who was sitting in the bright and colorful chairs. The guy from the video, from the library, was sitting in one of the pastel chairs across from another patron. He acted calm and collected, as if he didn’t just ruin Zhengting’s life a few nights ago.

The panic from earlier began to set in, his body starting to shake. No matter how much he wanted to, Zhengting couldn’t tear his eyes away from the scene before him. There he was, the perpetrator sitting right there in the open talking, laughing, with someone, while Zhengting was rooted to the spot in fear.

He was torn out of it when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, causing the brunette to jump up from his seat. Zhengting half expected it to be the frat boy across the street, but was equally as surprised as it was Wenjun who was staring back at Zhengting, slightly bewildered. “Hello?”

“Hi! Oh my god, hi,” Zhengting said, placing a hand over his chest to stop his heart from beating wildly. “I didn’t even notice you.”

“I can tell. I’ve been calling your name out for a few minutes.” Zhengting felt his face turn red at the comment. There he was, getting so panicked over someone across the street, he didn’t even notice Wenjun, which was particularly amazing given how tall he was.

“Oh, sorry about that. Just kind of…” the performance major made a vague gesture with his hands. “In my own head, you know.”

Wenjun nodded, looking as passive as ever. “Did you come get checked out?”

Zhengting paused, biting on his bottom lip. He knew he wasn’t the best liar, but he also didn’t expect Wenjun, a practical stranger, to even care. “Oh, no. I was visiting someone else, actually. What brings you here?”

Wenjun shrugged, placing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “I was visiting someone as well.” He stopped, glancing down at Zhengting, who seemed to be switching his gaze from Wenjun to across the street. “You know, it’d be better for you if you got yourself looked at. Just to make sure nothing bad was done.”

“Mmhmm…” Zhengting’s eyes couldn’t help but watch every move of the student across the street, nearly jumping when he got out of the chair and shook whoever’s hand he was talking to. This caught Wenjun’s attention as well, who glanced over his shoulder to where Zhengting was looking.

“He’s there… He even followed me here,” the shorter said softly, moving slightly closer to Wenjun. He was trying to hide behind the taller, heart picking up once more. “I can’t believe it… H-He even came here for me…”

Wenjun gave one last glance across the street before looking at Zhengting and grabbing his arm, dragging the performance major into the parking lot. Stumbling at first, Zhengting dumbly followed behind Wenjun, looking up at him in confusion.

“I’ll drive you home,” was all Wenjun said before he brought Zhengting to his car. Unlocking it, he helped Zhengting inside before quickly getting into the driver’s seat and leaving. “What’s your address?”

Despite the fact he was already in the car, Zhengting’s head still hadn’t caught up with everything yet. His attacker was no longer in his sight, he was sitting in the car of someone he met yesterday, and on top of that, it was a nice car, probably worth more than what Zhengting ever owned in his whole life. And the guy who helped him was hot… Wait. Zhengting shook his head slightly, trying to ignore the last thought.

He quietly said his address and Wenjun merely nodded, driving in silence as they went along. Zhengting sat in his seat awkwardly, hands on his lap. He glanced down at this phone once or twice, noting that Zhangjing hadn’t sent him anything yet, but beyond that, the whole ride was uneventful.

Eventually, the performance major had enough of the stuff quietness, clearing his throat a bit before he spoke. “So, I heard your brother is going to tutor Zhangjing in English.”

Wenjun snorted. “Yeah, like he really wants to tutor your roommate just in English.”

Zhengting tilted his head before letting out a gasp. “Oh, so Yanjun likes Zhangjing! Well, that’s helpful! I’m pretty sure Zhangjing likes him too.”

Wenjun raised one brow, tapping his fingers on the wheel as they waited at a stop light. “Oh, really? That probably means it’ll either take them forever to figure it out or your roommate isn’t going home tonight.”

Zhengting let out a small laugh, smiling at Wenjun’s brutal analysis. “Well, good for them if it’s the second one! Ugh, everyone around me seems to be getting a love story except for me,” he added with an overdramatic groan. “Even my little brother has a crush!”

Wenjun smiled softly at Zhengting’s comment before pulling into a driveway and placing his car in park. “This is it, right?”

“O-oh, yeah! Sorry, I didn’t even notice!” The shorter looked around before moving to unclip his seatbelt, biting his lip as he made his way out of the car. Before he shut the door though, Zhengting looked back towards Wenjun and smiled. It was something real and genuine, something he hadn’t felt in a while. “And Wenjun? I, um, wanted to thank you. For today, and the other night too. Thanks.”

Wenjun merely nodded his head as Zhengting shut the door, watching as he disappeared inside the house before he left. Once Zhengting was inside, he collapsed onto the couch, trying to hide the butterflies that threatened to leap out of his stomach. Wenjun’s smiling face flashed into his head, causing a blush to rise in his cheeks.

“Maybe now… Is my love story too…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be a new persepctive! I do plan to go between characters, so I hope that's okay. Also sorry for any errors, I didn't get to edit these past two chapters like I usually do because I wanted to get them out. I'll probably go back and fix them later ^^'
> 
> Thank you to everyone who leaves kudos and comments, it makes it a lot easier to write knowing people actually enjoy my work :) See you next time!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2021...? Starting the New Year off right by updating this fic with a filler chapter is totally the right way to go. I know it's short after *checks watch* nearly a year, but I hope to get back into writing this soon and produce longer chapters again :) Thank you to everyone who waited this long and continues to support this!

Saturday always felt like clockwork to Zhangjing. Get up, drop Zhengting off, get breakfast, tutor Ziyi, pick Zhengting up, grab dinner, do homework, go to bed. And if anything, he liked it that way. Usually, there wasn’t anything that tripped up his Saturday, save Zhengting running late from his visit. So, when Ziyi “offered” to have Yanjun help Zhangjing with English, he was hesitant at first. It would throw off his schedule greatly and with Zhengting not being in the best disposition, Zhangjing was worried for his roommate. But, like everything else in his life, Zhengting merely waved Zhangjing off, promising to take a bus home and text him like “the worried mom he is”.

So, that’s why now he was sitting in the library entirely too early as he waited for Ziyi and Yanjun. He was too nervous to stop by the usual diner where he picked up a latte and muffin to munch on before his lesson, driving right past the shop and heading straight into the library. Not to mention it was Saturday, meaning that it was emptier than normal. The librarians and only a few other students lingered at the tables, Zhangjing deciding to take one situated towards the back.

He pulled out his usual things, notes, laptop, and textbooks, and looked around nervously. He still had 20 minutes before Ziyi came because Ziyi was always perfectly on time. His stomach let out an angry growl after not being fed that morning, which the education major tried to ignore. Instead, he opened his laptop in an attempt to start getting ahead on his English homework, mainly because that’s what Yanjun was there to help him with in the first place. So, if he were to make a fool out of himself, he wanted to limit it.

He lost track of time as he began to edit his paper over and over again. He changed the phrasing, the spelling of some words, and even a whole paragraph now and again. Zhangjing knew that every single word had to be perfect, lest Yanjun think he was an absolute dumbass. He paused for a moment, taking in the thought. Why did he care what Yanjun thought? He was here to help Zhangjing anyway, so what if he made a few mistakes? Regardless, Zhangjing continued to revise and he didn’t even realize how far into it he was getting until there was a hand waving in front of his face, causing Zhangjing to jump. That hand belonged to Ziyi, who approached the table with his usual cool guy look, bag slung over one shoulder and branded clothes on point.

“Yo, You.” Ziyi said with a familiar lopsided smile. He pulled out the chair to sit down next to Zhangjing, lightly putting his bag on the table. He was alone, with no Yanjun in sight. For some reason, Zhangjing felt the weird tug in his chest let up slightly.

“Hey Ziyi. Did Yanjun happen to do something else instead?” Zhangjing tried to make it sound as chill as possible, obviously letting Ziyi know he wasn’t waiting for the dimpled beauty. Just curious.

Yeah, that’s it. Smooth. Nailed it.

“Oh, he should be here soon! Apparently his shower took longer than expected,” Ziyi rolled his eyes, sliding his books out of his bag. “You know, I would never want to see what his water bill looks like. That guy can take up to an hour in the shower, easy! It’s the worst when we work out together and he spends so long taking up the hot water after.”

Zhangjing felt a blush creep over his cheeks as he very definitely did not imagine Yanjun taking a shower after working out, the water running down his neatly toned muscles. He didn’t even know the kid! How the hell could he be thinking of that kind of stuff? With a shake of his head, Zhangjing tried to get into his normal pattern.

“Okay, what do you want help with this week?”

Ziyi paused, placing his hands on his laptop. This was very unlike him, as he was usually a student who was ready with questions and had a fairly good idea of what he wanted to review. Today he seemed a bit more… Stiff than usual, which Zhangjing was decently sure he hadn’t seen before. Eventually, Ziyi let out a huge sigh, turning towards Zhangjing with a pitiful expression.

“Look, I can’t do this,” Ziyi confessed. “I know we usually have tutoring, but I didn’t really have anything overwhelming this and I wanted to cancel, but-”

“But what?” Suddenly, an arm was wrapped around Ziyi’s neck, Yanjun’s tight smiling face appearing soon after. “Is there something wrong, bro?”

“U-Uh, nope! Ignore me! I was just wondering about this chemistry problem they gave us yesterday…” Zhangjing looked between the two underclassman, noting some unspoken tension between them. Ziyi looked far more nervous than usual and Yanjun’s ~~beautiful~~ smiling face seemed like it was hiding something, though it was hard for the education major to put his finger on it.

“Nice of you to join us, Yanjun.” Zhangjing said, trying to keep his voice even as possible. “It’d be nice if you were on time, though.” Yanjun merely gave a little shrug and wave. He didn’t seem to take Zhangjing’s words to heart as he pulled a book out of his bag, and leaned back in the chair. Zhangjing watched for a moment to see if the other was about to do anything else, but when Yanjun simply flipped through his book, he turned his attention back to Ziyi, walking him through a combustion analysis problem.

Ziyi nodded and didn’t seem to be paying much attention as Zhangjing taught him, instead occasionally glancing back towards Yanjun, who was now silently reading a book across the table from them. Zhangjing quickly caught on and sighed, eventually giving up on teaching a Ziyi whose head wasn’t in the right space currently.

“Ziyi, is something bothering you? You don’t seem as focused as usual…” Zhangjing leaned forward and placed the back on his hand on Ziyi’s forehead, not feeling much beyond his normal body temperature. “You don’t feel like you’re running a fever or anything.”

Ziyi sat straight up, jolting away from Zhangjing’s sudden touch. He laughed nervously, closing his notebook and shrugging. “Sorry, I just have a few things on my mind today. I guess there’s something bothering me, but you don’t have to worry.” There was a strange silence that hung in the air, which was typically uncommon between them, only interrupted by Yanjun clearing his throat. “Then again, it’s more like someone bothering me,” he tacked on quietly. Zhangjing merely tilted his head slightly, not quite hearing the end of it.

“If that’s the case then, we could have always postponed the meeting. You know I’m pretty free on the weekends,” Zhangjing scolded the younger student with an attempt at a glare on his face. It didn’t seem to work though, Ziyi just smiling and ruffling Zhangjing’s hair.

“Sorry, bro. I didn’t want to bother you too much. I know the whole thing with Zhengting is going on too, so I didn’t want to put more on your plate.”

As if on cue, Zhangjing felt a vibration in his pocket. He had a new text from Zhengting, showing a picture of him with Quanzhe and Justin in the usual hospital room. He turned the phone towards Ziyi, chuckling slightly. “I think Zhengting is going to be just fine. He’s already feeling better too!”

Ziyi took the phone and smiled, pointing at Quanzhe. “That’s his little brother, right? Wow, they really look nothing alike from one another.”

Zhangjing leaned in closer and nodded, zooming the picture in on the two of them. “That’s what I said! I think Zhengting looks more like his cousin back there. His name is Justin.”

Ziyi moved the picture to focus over Zhengting and Justin. “You know, if Zhengting dyed his hair blond, I could see it.”

Suddenly, there was the sound of Yanjun aggressively clearing his throat across from Ziyi and Zhangjing. This caused both of them to look up, blinking in surprise at Yanjun. Meanwhile, the dimpled student looked innocent from behind his book, looking over the edge of it. “What? Something wrong?”

Before Zhangjing could respond, his phone was shoved back into his hands. Ziyi had stood up and began packing his stuff away. “No, Yanjun, everything is all fine and dandy. I have to go home for today, you guys can carry on with whatever.”

“Ziyi?” Zhangjing reached up to stop the other student from packing up, but he was shrugged off.

“I’ll text you in a bit, Zhangjing. Later,” Ziyi shrugged his bag over his shoulder before walking out the library, seeming far more in a hurry than he was before. Zhangjing only watched as Ziyi left, leaving him awkwardly alone in the library with Yanjun. It was the first time Ziyi had ever been like that to Zhangjing and he couldn’t stop the pit of worry that formed in his stomach.

“Bye…” Zhangjing sighed before sitting back down, holding his face in his hands. “I hope everything is okay…”

Yanjun put his book down now, taking one of Zhangjing’s hands in his and smiling softly. “I’m sure whatever he’s stressed about, he’ll tell you later. Just give him time.” He didn’t let go until the shorter one nodded with a red face. “For now, let’s focus on your paper, okay?”

“S-s-sure,” Zhangjing managed to get out. Yanjun moved around the table and slid into the seat that Ziyi once occupied, and then some as he shifted it closer to Zhangjing. “So, we have to do an analysis on Plato’s Allegory of the cave and…” Zhangjing looked back to see if Yanjun was paying attention only to be caught by a very intense stare. Yanjun was hardly paying attention to what was on the screen, but instead looking Zhanjing over, his eyes lingering particularly long on his face. “Yanjun?”

The other’s name came out as a squeak, which only caused Yanjun to smirk. Zhangjing had never felt like this around anyone before. His cheeks were sporting a bright pink as Yanjun only leaned in closer, their lips nearly touching.

“Yes?” The single word sent shivers down Zhangjing. He couldn’t move, his body paralyzed by Yanjun’s gaze. The library had chosen this moment to fall dead silent, leaving only the pounding of his heart going through his ears. Yanjun didn’t make any further movement, but had a small smirk quirked on his lips. He was waiting for Zhangjing to make the move.

“Um! The short story! I was thinking about what it means and I wanted you to see if I was getting the idea right.” Zhangjing knew he had to have turned red to the tips of his ears. He had almost given himself whiplash with how quickly he turned back towards his laptop. Yanjun didn’t back away immediately, though, and instead moved one hand onto Zhangjing shoulder as he read the paper over.

“Yeah, it looks pretty good. You seem to have the basic theory of it down, so I’m sure the professor should give you a passing score.” Yanjun confirmed with a nod before finally leaning back into his chair. It didn’t take much for Zhangjing to notice just how effortlessly beautiful Yanjun looked as he leaned back, long legs crossing over each other and a perfect face framed by his dyed silver hair. It was unfair, in some ways, how attractive Yanjun was. He could probably get anyone he wanted on campus with no issue.

“What do you mean ‘the basic theory’? There isn’t much more beyond this,” Zhangjing shot back with a pout.

“Well, you have the theory, but have you ever thought of trying it in practice?” Yanjun winked and stood up, gathering his book and backpack. “You’re still chained inside that cave, Zhangjing. Try opening your mind up, find your fire.” Yanjun finished and slung his bag over one shoulder with another one of those accursed winks. “I’ll be waiting.”

Zhangjing watched as Yanjun made his way out of the library, offering little help on the actual paper. Zhangjing simply watched him go, both amazed and slightly angered by the whole interaction. How could he be so, so flippant about the whole thing? He wasn’t there for life advice, just advice on his paper!

For a moment, Zhangjing contemplated getting into his car and leaving. Zhengting had said he was going to take the bus back home, so he wasn’t necessarily in a rush to get anywhere. Conflict lingered in Zhangjing’s mind for only a bit more before he stuffed his studying material into his backpack (he could apologize to the papers he crumpled later), hastily throwing it over one shoulder, and running out of the library to where the bob of silver hair was walking.

“Yanjun! What the hell do you mean!?” The mentioned boy had stopped and turned around with a smirk on his face. “‘Find my fire’ my ass! I’m not a caveman!”

“I mean, I never said you were a caveman, per se.” Yanjun shrugged his arms and walked alongside Zhangjing. “Just you need to widen your horizons a bit. No offense, but you look a bit like the kind of person to have a stick up their ass.”

Saying that the comment was jaw dropping was an understatement. Zhangjing stopped in his tracks, properly infuriated. “Well excuse me! Sorry I’d rather watch movies instead of getting drunk every other night!” Yanjun had stopped and watched Zhangjing with an amused expression. “Besides, I’m sure Zhengting gets drunk enough for the both of us.”

“You watch movies?” Yanjun’s tone went from playful to interested. It had been the first time Zhangjing had seen something real from the boy since they met.

“Yeah, is that a problem? Too caveman like for you?”

“No, actually. I really enjoy watching movies.”

Zhangjing was stunned at the sudden personality change. Where before Yanjun seemed to rile him up at every given moment, he seemed to look more interested in what Zhangjing had to say. It was before he was just trying to get Zhangjing to have some kind of reaction, like he was bored and trying out this new person. Now, he seemed to be looking at Zhangjing _as_ a person.

“Any kind of genre you like watching?” Zhangjing felt his cheeks flush red as he mumbled a response to Yanjun’s question, gripping tightly onto the straps of his backpack. “Excuse me? What was that?”

“I-I like watching… romance movies…” Zhangjing squeaked out, ready to be made fun of by Yanjun. Someone as hot as him probably gets lost in the complex mental thrillers about some serial killers or something. That would fit his style.

“Aren’t they great? I think the idea of meeting someone and just falling in love with their whole aspect is amazing. I know it’s just made to grab hearts, but it’s just so magical sometimes.” Yanjun nodded in agreement and Zhangjing was sure his heart was about to flop out of his mouth.

Yanjun glanced over at Zhangjing, giving him one of the most genuine smiles Zhangjing had seen during the entire session. “Wanna come over and watch some movies? I promise I have more than The Notebook.”

It was hard to hold back a smile and giggle as Zhangjing bumped shoulders with Yanjun. “I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: If anyone is curious, Zhangjing is analyzing Plato's Allegory of the Cave

**Author's Note:**

> Happy belated birthday present to myself! I have been thinking of this plot for ages and finally decided to write it out. Here's hoping I can properly keep up with it and bring a new BiTing fic here! I love them dearly and that means that they must hurt before they find love~! See you next chapter!


End file.
